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She blinks. “Pardon?”
“You’re coming with me.”
She watches the movement of my thumb like I’m hypnotizing her. Maybe I am. When she looks up, she’s dazed. “You want me to leave with you? Where?”
“My place.”
I have cameras, gates, motion sensors. It’s tight security and the only place she’ll be safe for tonight. Until I can make sure she’s not under threat and send her on her way first thing tomorrow morning. Distractions can last one night. Longer than that and they quickly become complications.
“I don’t—” She bites her bottom lip as she thinks. “I just met you. I just learned your real name. Going back to your house seems kind of crazy, doesn’t it?”
“A lot of people would argue this entire night has been ‘kind of crazy.’”
She blows out a breath. “Which might be a sign that I should pack it in for the night. Cut the evening short before you reveal yourself to be a mass murderer.”
“Or take you home to introduce you to my grandmother.”
She laughs, which seems to put her even less at ease. “I don’t know you, Yakov. You could hurt me.”
I have to repress a snort. She has no fucking idea.
“Yeah, I could,” I say. “You saw the way I dragged Sergey out of here. If I wanted you to come with me, you wouldn’t be able to resist.”
She swallows. Her throat bobs. It’s not the subtlest threat I’ve ever made, that’s for fucking sure.
“But I’m giving you the choice,” I continue. “I’m asking you to come with me, Luna. Make things simple and just say yes.”
Luna does have a choice. If she chooses correctly, then we’ll take this distraction back to my mansion. If she doesn’t… then the ugly truth will be revealed. I’ll force her out of this restaurant and into my car if I have to. Anything to protect her from a danger she doesn’t even know exists.
Her blue eyes are pensive. I’d love to know what she thinks she’s deciding. What she thinks is on the table right now. Whatever it is, it’s not nearly as dangerous as the reality of what awaits us outside this cozy restaurant.
Slowly, she stands up and reaches for my hand. “Okay. Let’s go.”
Without another word, I lead her through the back door of the restaurant.
6
LUNA
If my life was a movie, I’d be throwing popcorn at the screen.
“You stupid bitch,” I’d cackle. “Rule number one: don’t go to a second location with the man you just met. It’s textbook.”
But nothing about Yakov is textbook. Not the way he looks or talks or how he entered my life. Definitely not the way my stomach flipped when he threatened me.
Okay, he didn’t threaten me, per se. But close enough.
If I wanted you to come with me, you wouldn’t be able to resist.
Full body chills. I should have given him the farewell salute right then. Nice knowing you, sailor, but I’m heading off. That’s what a smart woman would have done.
Apparently, I’m not a smart woman. Because I saw Yakov throw the real Sergey out of the restaurant like he was nothing. I saw it with my own eyes… and all I could think was, How easily could Yakov handle me?
I squeeze my thighs together and press myself against the car door. It smells like mahogany and exotic spices in here, but there aren’t any car fresheners that I can see. That’s just the way Yakov smells.
It isn’t making it any easier for me to think straight.
“Home,” Yakov orders.
